WCO 2nd Symposium on Combating Counterfeits in E-commerce

On January 15, 2025, I had the privilege of representing Hurricane Commerce at the World Customs Organization's (WCO) 2nd Symposium on "Removing Counterfeits from e-commerce." The event's objective was to further raise awareness among Customs officials and the broader public regarding the escalating issue of counterfeit goods in e-commerce, with a particular focus on substandard, counterfeit, and falsified medicines and medical devices.

The symposium attracted 1,193 participants, highlighting the critical nature of discussions surrounding intellectual property rights (IPR) infringements in the digital marketplace. Professor Saifuddin Ahmed of Johns Hopkins University delivered the keynote, addressing the alarming rise of counterfeit pharmaceuticals sold online. His speech emphasised the profound global implications of this challenge, extending beyond healthcare and eroding public trust in medical products.

The panel discussions underscored the severe risks to consumer safety posed by counterfeit medical products online. Speakers from the Australian Border Force (ABF), the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), Amazon, and La Poste Group provided expert insights into tackling this pervasive issue.

Drawing on my experience in combating counterfeit goods in the supply chain since the mid-1990s, I noted that while the core challenges persist, the exponential growth of e-commerce has intensified these issues. Despite significant advancements in training and awareness, a major hurdle remains the transparency and willingness to share intelligence on counterfeit producers and suppliers. Identifying counterfeit products often requires specialised knowledge from the original manufacturers, making the current detection methods labor-intensive and sporadically successful.

It was encouraging to learn that the Australian Border Force has been proactive in sharing intelligence with organisations capable of intercepting counterfeit transactions at their origin. Logistics service providers, especially within the express sector, have long advocated for intelligence sharing as an effective strategy to disrupt counterfeit networks. The Global Express Association’s position paper on Intellectual Property reiterates this stance, urging governments and customs agencies to shift their focus to the "front end" of the supply chain, targeting the problem at its source rather than merely seizing goods at their destination.

Their recommendations include:

• To apply greater focus on the “front end” of the supply chain, developing bi-lateral mechanisms to have governments deal with the issue at source as there is currently too much focus on the “back end”, confiscating goods and establishing liabilities at destination.?
• Lastly, to establish legal or regulatory mechanisms that enable governments and stakeholders to share information about bad actors in order to have a coordinated approach. However, all modes of transport need to have the same processes in place otherwise bad actors will just choose the path of least resistance”.

As with all things compliance, the solution is not a single thing, but involves multiple players in the supply chain trusting each other, sharing information and working towards a common goal.

World Customs Organization #GEA Carlos Grau Tanner #DietmarJost #Counterfeit #Compliance #Post #Postal #Data Evita V. Alessandro Nicolis Christophe Pereira 亚马逊 Hurricane Modular Commerce Ltd Martyn Noble David Spottiswood Maureen Cori Robert Dundas #DeniedParties #RestrictedParties Barbara Soto